Agitator for stokers



June 15, 1937. o. L, BARTLETT AGITATOR FOR STOKERS Filed Sept. ll, 1936 JKU 49"/ JYZZINVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented June 15, 1937 UNITED STATES 3 Claims.

This invention relates to agitators especially adapted for hoppers and worm feed conveyors for stokers and has for the primary object the provision of a simple, inexpensive and eicient 5 device of this character which will eliminate faulty feeding of coal from a hopper to the conveyor due to wet coal massing and failing to gravitate to the conveyor from the hopper and which is entirely automatic in operation and remains inoperative as long as the conveyor is filled with coal from the hopper, however, immediately on failure of the coal to feed to the conveyor from the hopper said device acts to agitate the coal and thereby bring aboutl gravitation of the coal to the conveyor.

With these and other objects in view, this invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.-

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating a stoker hopper and conveyor equipped with an agitator constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan View, partly in section, illustrating the same.

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3--3 of Figure l.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral I indicates a hopper and 2 a conveyor housing in which operates a spiral conveyor 3.

The hopper l and conveyor 3 form a part of a stoker and in devices of this kind the coal when wet many times masses and fails to gravitate from the hopper to the conveyor or within the spirals of the conveyor consequently rendering the stoker inoperative and inefficient and to cure stokers of this trouble my invention is adapted to the hopper and which will, through the rotation of the spiral conveyor, agitate the coal in the hopper whe-n said coal fails to gravitate into the conveyor thereby restoring the feeding of the coal to the conveyor and permitting the Stoker to operate efficiently.

The agitator is of a simple and inexpensive construction and may be readily adapted to the ho-pper to operate in conjunction with the conveyor and consists of an arm 4 pivoted to a bracket 5 adjacent one end and the bracket is suitably secured to the hopper and located within the latter and at a selected distance from the discharge end of the hopper. The other end of the arm 4 is pivoted to a feed plate '6 of elongated formation and has its opposite ends beveled and in opposite directions. intermediate the ends of the feed plate so that said feed plate occupies a position directly above the spirals of the conveyor 3. An agitating post or member 'I is adjustably secured to the feed plate adjacent one end of the latter and projects above and below said feed plate and has its lower end shaped to readily extend into the spaces between the spirals of the conveyor and also to readily ride over the edges of the spiral.

When the coal fails to feed from the hopper to the conveyor the lower end of the post moves into a space between convolutions of the spirals and owing to the rotation of the spirals the post l will raise upwardly and downwardly imparting to the feed plate a rocking movement on its pivot. This rocking movement of the feed plate and the upward and downward movement of the ,post brings about a thorough agitation of the coal so that the coal will be caused to freely gravitate downwardly into the spaces between the spirals of the conveyor filling said spaces and as the spaces are filled the post is elevated from engagement with the conveyor causing one end of the feed plate to move down which has an action of forcing coal into spaces between the convolutions of the spirals of the conveyor.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a hopper and a spiral conveyor of a stoker, an arm pivoted to the hopper, a feed piate pivoted to the arm and disposed above the conveyor and capable of rocking movement so that its ends alternatingly move towards and from the conveyor, and means carried by the feed plate to contact the conveyor when empty of coal to bring about rocking movement of the feed plate and itself act to agitate the coal and bring about gravitation thereof to the conveyor.

2. 1n combination with a hopper and a spiral conveyor of a Stoker, a bracket secured to the hopper, an arm pivoted to said bracket, an elongated feed plate pivoted to said arm and having its ends free to move upwardly and downwardly within. the hopper, and a post secured to the feed plate and projecting above and below the latter and adapted to engage with the conveyor when empty of coal to bring about rocking movement of the feed plate and agitating of the coal within the hopper.

3. In combination with a hopper and a spiral conveyor of a sto-ker, a bracket secured to the hopper, an arm pivoted to said bracket, an elon- The arm 4 is pivoted gated feed plate pivoted to said arm and having its ends free to move upwardly and downwardly within the hopper and a post secured to the feed plate and projecting above and below the latter and adapted to engage with the conveyor when empty of coal to bring about rocking movement of the feed plate and agitating of the coal within the hopper, said post having its lower end shaped to extend between and ride over the edges of the conveyor, said feed plate having its ends beveled in opposite directions.

OSCAR L. BARTLETT. 

